An outbreak of Enteric Fever in Arva in 1901

In his popular historical column, Jonathan Smyth this week looks back a serious outbreak of fever in Arva in the early 1900s...

We live in an era where public health is never too far from our thoughts and with advances in medicine, no one could have foreseen the devastating effect that COVID-19 has had on lives and livelihoods. However, pandemic experts have, for years, warned consistently that such phenomena are grist to the medical mill, rearing an ugly head every century or so.

A recent trawl through the newspapers of 100 years ago provoked my interest with stories about disease, which would leave your hair standing on end. Then again, in the days of the workhouse, typhoid and other such evils were quite common.

On January 26, 1901, the Cavan Weekly News reported that in the Arva Division an outbreak of ‘enteric fever’ occurred, which became a cause of ‘inquiry’ for the Cavan Rural District Council who met at Cavan Workhouse. You may wonder as to what exactly an enteric disease is? A glance at a medical dictionary provided the following explanation: ‘Enteric diseases are caused by micro-organisms such as viruses, bacteria and parasites that cause intestinal illness. These diseases most frequently result from consuming contaminated food or water and some can spread from person to person.’

Cavan Rural District Council were asked to investigate the ‘circumstances’ surrounding the outbreak of fever at Lossett, in the Arva dispensary district, at the request of a Mr P. Gaffney who had sent several letters to the Local Government Board. The council members consisting of Messrs S. Sanderson, Chair; Patrick H. Galligan; Matthew McCabe; Terence Mulligan; Thomas Rogers; Thomas Moikle, Patrick Brady; Thomas Reilly; Francis Phillips; John Reilly; Arthur S. Lough, JP; Thomas J. Smith, VC, Thomas Reilly; Luke Lee; James Smith; John McCaffrey; Francis McCormick; Owen Costello; James Flood; Hugh Prouty; Bernard O’Connor and Thomas Smith, VC. Also, in attendance, were Mr T.E. Bennett, manager, Killeshandra Co-operative Creamery; Mr M. Smith, manager, Lossett Auxiliary Creamery and Dr Buchanan, Medical Officer, Arvagh Dispensary District, whose late arrival to the meeting was recorded.

Chairman Sanderson’s patience was tested having earlier announced ‘it is now a quarter of an hour past the time and the doctor and Mr P. Gaffney have not arrived’. Mulligan said that the manager from Killeshandra Co-op and Lossett Auxillary were still downstairs, to which the chairman replied, ‘then, I suppose we can go on with the business’ and he read a letter from the Local Government Board.

Arthur Lough then enquired as to whether P. Gaffney had ‘turned up?’ Someone said, they had never heard tell of this Gaffney man. He was apparently living in the centre of the disease and was a shareholder in Lossett Auxillary Creamery. Mr Bennett musing over the matter said, ‘I can’t say definitely if we have a shareholder of that name’. Confusion arose when nobody could identify the mysterious Mr P. Gaffney.

Arthur Lough felt that no attention ought to be paid to Gaffney or his letters until ‘he is found out’ since he had not bothered to attend. The bemused chairman told the meeting, ‘we will say we have inquiries from persons living there and that we can’t find any such person; and that we asked him to attend and he has not.’

We live in an era where public health is never too far from our thoughts and with advances in medicine, no one could have foreseen the devastating effect that COVID-19 has had on lives and livelihoods. However, pandemic experts have, for years, warned consistently that such phenomena are grist to the medical mill, rearing an ugly head every century or so.

A recent trawl through the newspapers of 100 years ago provoked my interest with stories about disease, which would leave your hair standing on end. Then again, in the days of the workhouse, typhoid and other such evils were quite common.

On January 26, 1901, theCavan Weekly Newsreported that in the Arva Division an outbreak of ‘enteric fever’ occurred, which became a cause of ‘inquiry’ for the Cavan Rural District Council who met at Cavan Workhouse. You may wonder as to what exactly an enteric disease is? A glance at a medical dictionary provided the following explanation: ‘Enteric diseases are caused by micro-organisms such as viruses, bacteria and parasites that cause intestinal illness. These diseases most frequently result from consuming contaminated food or water and some can spread from person to person.’

Cavan Rural District Council were asked to investigate the ‘circumstances’ surrounding the outbreak of fever at Lossett, in the Arva dispensary district, at the request of a Mr P. Gaffney who had sent several letters to the Local Government Board. The council members consisting of Messrs S. Sanderson, Chair; Patrick H. Galligan; Matthew McCabe; Terence Mulligan; Thomas Rogers; Thomas Moikle, Patrick Brady; Thomas Reilly; Francis Phillips; John Reilly; Arthur S. Lough, JP; Thomas J. Smith, VC, Thomas Reilly; Luke Lee; James Smith; John McCaffrey; Francis McCormick; Owen Costello; James Flood; Hugh Prouty; Bernard O’Connor and Thomas Smith, VC. Also, in attendance, were Mr T.E. Bennett, manager, Killeshandra Co-operative Creamery; Mr M. Smith, manager, Lossett Auxiliary Creamery and Dr Buchanan, Medical Officer, Arvagh Dispensary District, whose late arrival to the meeting was recorded.

Chairman Sanderson’s patience was tested having earlier announced ‘it is now a quarter of an hour past the time and the doctor and Mr P. Gaffney have not arrived’. Mulligan said that the manager from Killeshandra Co-op and Lossett Auxillary were still downstairs, to which the chairman replied, ‘then, I suppose we can go on with the business’ and he read a letter from the Local Government Board.

Arthur Lough then enquired as to whether P. Gaffney had ‘turned up?’ Someone said, they had never heard tell of this Gaffney man. He was apparently living in the centre of the disease and was a shareholder in Lossett Auxillary Creamery. Mr Bennett musing over the matter said, ‘I can’t say definitely if we have a shareholder of that name’. Confusion arose when nobody could identify the mysterious Mr P. Gaffney.

Arthur Lough felt that no attention ought to be paid to Gaffney or his letters until ‘he is found out’ since he had not bothered to attend. The bemused chairman told the meeting, ‘we will say we have inquiries from persons living there and that we can’t find any such person; and that we asked him to attend and he has not.’

Typhoid Fever

Next, attention turned to Dr Coey E. Biggar’s (Medical Inspector) report on the developing Arva situation. Biggar wrote with a customary zest of character similar to Dicken’s Mr Bumble stating: ‘Royal Hotel Cavan, 18th December, 1900, (The Local Government Board Dublin). Gentlemen, I have the honour to report that I have this day visited Arva District, and find from Dr Buchanan that there are eighty-four persons ill with typhoid fever, all living within a short distance from the Creamery at Lossett. In company with Dr Buchanan I visited sixteen patients. These were all typical cases of typhoid’.

He said that four had died, three most certainly from typhoid and the fourth, he had no doubt had died from the same.

You may ask, what had the creamery to do with all of this? The common factor between the sick households was that they had been consuming ‘the separated’ milk from Lossett. The manager at Lossett had on December 12 posted a notice on the door that ‘no milk’ could be taken in from houses of the ill until further notice.

It was thought better that the premises be closed in its entirety, and in doing so, halt the advancement of the disease.

The auxiliary creamery had, it was learned, been closed completely upon the completion of Dr Biggar’s assessment. A committee member stood to speak, informing the group that he lived close to Lossett and that a farmer let his refuse run down to the suction pipe at the creamery and, not only that, there was he added, another who actually allowed offal to flow downstream. He finished by saying that there never was such a disease in the area until the creamery opened. Evidently, hearing enough of what was perceived as pure tattle, Mr Galligan turned and told the man to address his concerns to the Sanitary Authority, to which the chairman interrupted, ‘we are the sanitary authority’.

Biggar picture

Following the first medical report, Lossett Creamery decided to re-open and, from Belfast, on January 5th, 1901, Coey Biggar again had ‘the honour’ to report that ‘yesterday morning’ he drove from Cavan to Lossett to meet Dr Buchanan and Mr Johnston of the Creamery Committee and then going on to inspect the premises. Biggar told them that the creamery should be closed because of the sick families sending in milk.

He was referred to manager Bennett who said that he had no intention of closing it with out the agreement of the committee, who had in fact, earlier that morning approved that they stay open, fearing that by closing, the neighbouring population might blame them for the typhoid outbreak. Biggar was advised by Bennett to visit Dr Smith, Kevit Castle, to whom he could put his concerns. Luckily, Dr Smith had influence in the matter and later informed Biggar that the creamery was ordered to shut. Medical Inspector Biggar noted that 51 people in the Arva district still had typhoid, six of whom had died.

In conclusion, Arthur Lough referred to a case of enteric fever in Munterconnaught, which had no connection to the creamery and, on the medical advice received, they believed that the committee were exonerated from blame. It was supposed by some members that a returning soldier may have brought home the fever, but since nobody knew of any soldiers recently returning from foreign lands, the matter was let rest.

Next, attention turned to Dr Coey E. Biggar’s (Medical Inspector) report on the developing Arva situation. Biggar wrote with a customary zest of character similar to Dicken’s Mr Bumble stating: ‘Royal Hotel Cavan, 18th December, 1900, (The Local Government Board Dublin). Gentlemen, I have the honour to report that I have this day visited Arva District, and find from Dr Buchanan that there are eighty-four persons ill with typhoid fever, all living within a short distance from the Creamery at Lossett. In company with Dr Buchanan I visited sixteen patients. These were all typical cases of typhoid’.

He said that four had died, three most certainly from typhoid and the fourth, he had no doubt had died from the same.

You may ask, what had the creamery to do with all of this? The common factor between the sick households was that they had been consuming ‘the separated’ milk from Lossett. The manager at Lossett had on December 12 posted a notice on the door that ‘no milk’ could be taken in from houses of the ill until further notice.

It was thought better that the premises be closed in its entirety, and in doing so, halt the advancement of the disease.

The auxiliary creamery had, it was learned, been closed completely upon the completion of Dr Biggar’s assessment. A committee member stood to speak, informing the group that he lived close to Lossett and that a farmer let his refuse run down to the suction pipe at the creamery and, not only that, there was he added, another who actually allowed offal to flow downstream. He finished by saying that there never was such a disease in the area until the creamery opened. Evidently, hearing enough of what was perceived as pure tattle, Mr Galligan turned and told the man to address his concerns to the Sanitary Authority, to which the chairman interrupted, ‘we are the sanitary authority’.

Biggar picture

Following the first medical report, Lossett Creamery decided to re-open and, from Belfast, on January 5th, 1901, Coey Biggar again had ‘the honour’ to report that ‘yesterday morning’ he drove from Cavan to Lossett to meet Dr Buchanan and Mr Johnston of the Creamery Committee and then going on to inspect the premises. Biggar told them that the creamery should be closed because of the sick families sending in milk.

He was referred to manager Bennett who said that he had no intention of closing it with out the agreement of the committee, who had in fact, earlier that morning approved that they stay open, fearing that by closing, the neighbouring population might blame them for the typhoid outbreak. Biggar was advised by Bennett to visit Dr Smith, Kevit Castle, to whom he could put his concerns. Luckily, Dr Smith had influence in the matter and later informed Biggar that the creamery was ordered to shut. Medical Inspector Biggar noted that 51 people in the Arva district still had typhoid, six of whom had died.

In conclusion, Arthur Lough referred to a case of enteric fever in Munterconnaught, which had no connection to the creamery and, on the medical advice received, they believed that the committee were exonerated from blame. It was supposed by some members that a returning soldier may have brought home the fever, but since nobody knew of any soldiers recently returning from foreign lands, the matter was let rest.

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